A Song of Wind and Water
by Knight-Dawn
Summary: Three years have passed since the events of Dark Dawn. In the time since, chaos has spread throughout the lands. Threats of war arrive in Ayuthay at the worst possible time, just when Amiti and Karis are about to have their first child... and Matthew and Queen Sveta were about to announce their engagement to her people. Is happiness still attainable in times of such animosity?
1. Prologue: Another Storm

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_A Song of Wind and Water_

_Prologue: Another Storm_

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It was raining in the forest, a cold autumn rain, and the king of Ayuthay was caught out in the storm. As the wind picked up, he knew he was in for a rough night if he didn't find shelter soon. The white horse he was riding whined and stamped, and he did his best to console it.

"We'll be home soon, don't you worry," Amiti whispered, his breath a white cloud in the cold air. "You'll be nice and warm in the palace stables, and I'll be nice and warm in the palace bedroom. Don't give up just yet."

The horse snorted, but went on as Amiti told it to.

The thought of home was a good one, and Amiti kept replaying it in his mind to ward off the chill of the wind and rain. He'd been gone for five months, in council with Sveta in Belinsk. There were many troubles up north and to the east—skirmishes, border conflicts... all sorts of awful things. King Wo was especially vocal against the other countries. Ayuthay and Kaocho were still not on friendly terms. In fact, since Amiti and his friends had come home from their adventures at last the conflict with Kaocho had only gotten worse. Wo was not happy about Ayuthay's prosperity in the wake of the Grave Eclipse—and Amiti had to admit, his pains were justified. Kaocho lost many men in the Eclipse, while Ayuthay was relatively unscathed.

What made Amiti angry was_ how_ Wo was speaking against him. It was one thing to complain about their losses—it was something else entirely to blame it on Amiti and his friends. If blame fell on anyone, it was the Tuaparang at fault. They were the ones who had spurred Matthew's party onward, forced them to do things they had not intended to do.

Amiti gripped the reigns tightly in his icy fist, breathing on his fingers to try to keep them warm. It didn't help much, though. He was still shaking, both from cold and from nerves.

_Time to think of other things, _Amiti told himself.

He closed his eyes for a moment, smiling to himself as he thought of home once again. A warm fire in the hearth, a warm cup of tea in his hands, and a warm bed waiting for him. He had spent five long months in the north, five months arguing and yelling at other monarchs, five months away from his beloved wife, Karis.

Ordinarily, of course, she would have been right there beside him and Sveta in the council, but when Sveta had sent the summons to them Karis had been three months pregnant—and Amiti had insisted she stay in Ayuthay. He did not want her to hurt herself whilst traveling. Karis hadn't been too thrilled with the idea, but Amiti convinced her that he needed someone on the home front to keep Ayuthay secure in case Wo decided to attack.

Karis had reluctantly agreed at last.

"Just be home before the baby's born, Amiti. Promise me that, okay?"

"Okay," Amiti had said, smiling as he swept her up in his arms to kiss her. Afterwards, he'd looked deep into her violet eyes and held her hand tightly in his own. "Do you really think I'd miss the birth of my own child?"

Karis had only smiled, shaking her head.

Amiti intended to keep that promise, which was why Sveta had let him take his leave early from their council to head back to Ayuthay. It was a long journey, and he was desperate to make it home in time.

The horse suddenly stopped and stood dead still, and Amiti was wrenched back to the present in a heartbeat. It was quiet all of a sudden, deathly quiet. Unnaturally so. Amiti turned and looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. It was still raining, still freezing cold, but the wind had died down.

It picked up again, suddenly, in a wrenching gust that tore Amiti right off the back of the horse. He landed hard on his back, and had the wind knocked clear out of his lungs. He turned sideways, facing a pool of water glistening in the rain.

The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the horse running off into the forest, stars swimming in the darkness between the trees and the drops of rain.

...

**Author: **Hello, everyone. The title of this piece is kind of inspired by _A Song of Ice and Fire_, but hopefully this story won't be so depressing as that one. I can't promise it won't get dark at points, but I am a sucker for happy endings at least. (Which is not in and of itself a spoiler for anything.)

This is _technically_ a sequel of sorts to "The Mourning Moon," but since I haven't completed that yet I'm not going to stress that it has to be one. If you have been following that one, then rest assured that the next chapters are being written. I just haven't gotten them all down yet. Writing fights is hard. Especially when you've got fifteen plus heroes to control (seriously, nineteen if you count _everyone_) along with three villians... and Alex. In short, it's coming along, but it's got a ways to go yet.

All that aside, I haven't made an outline of this one yet per se, but I know what I want to have happen in it.

Reviews are always appreciated.

See you next chapter!


	2. Chapter 1: Fatherless

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_A Song of Wind and Water  
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_Chapter One: Fatherless_

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It was dawn in Ayuthay, and Karis was staring out over the waters of Lake Barai watching the sunrise. She smiled as she felt a strong kick from the baby, but as she pressed her hand against her stomach the smile faded a bit. She wished Amiti were here to feel his child, too. He was due to return any day now, the letter he'd sent from Belinsk upon leaving had already arrived.

But no matter how many times Karis tried to convince herself that everything was working out fine, she knew better. It was only a matter of time before Wo struck out against Ayuthay—which Amiti had also acknowledged in his letter. Wanting to be there for the birth of their child was only one reason he was heading home early—wanting to be there to serve Ayuthay should war break out was another.

If Ayuthay had to shut down to hold off a siege, there would be no way for Amiti to return to her.

Karis shuddered at the thought. "I should've gone with him," she told herself for the umpteenth time since her husband had gone to Belinsk. But again, she knew better. Someone had to stay in Ayuthay, to be Ayuthay's strength. And Karis felt honored that Amiti considered her strong enough to be that strength... Even if she would rather be the kind of warrior who fought on the front lines.

Again, Karis smiled as she trailed her fingers along her swollen stomach. _I won't be fighting anyone for a while yet, anyway, _she reminded herself. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to imagine the future that awaited them. Amiti would come home soon, and he'd be there to see their child born. Their child would be an Adept, that was a given, and thus they would be able to teach him or her how to use them—no matter which parent he or she took after.

Karis sighed sadly as she thought about that—Amiti had been so exited when he first found out about the baby. He wanted to teach his child to use Psynergy properly, something he himself had lacked as a boy. Karis knew Amiti was somewhat jealous of the Warrior's kids, who'd been trained by their parents since before they could walk. It wasn't his fault, though, that his father hadn't been around to offer him a helping hand.

Karis couldn't help but smirk a little to herself at the thought of Alex teaching Amiti to use his powers. It just wasn't an image that seemed natural. Truly, Karis wondered what Alex was thinking right now—whether or not he looked forward to being a grandfather. It was hard to know with him, especially since he'd vanished off the face of Weyard again for the past three years.

Karis was still smiling when there was a knocking at the door of the bedroom. She snapped back to the present, and turned towards the sound. "Yes?"

"M'lady, I've got news for you. May I come in?"

Karis sighed. It was Tika, a silversmith's apprentice who worked part-time at the palace as well. Her older brother, Tobi, had been working on the palace, too. He was well on his way to becoming a stone mason worthy of the Exathi. They both were good friends of Amiti—Their mother had been his wet nurse when he was a baby, since Tika was born a week before Amiti. "Yes, Tika. It's all right."

Tika opened the door and quickly came in with a sleight bow. "Word's come in from the scouts by Kaocho that Wo's up to something. He's been sending a bunch of soldiers out—hired mercenaries, by the looks of them, not from these parts. You know they lost a lot of men, so they're short-handed."

Karis nodded slowly, a hand still pressed against her stomach. "Yes. It was tragic to see," she muttered, remembering how stricken Amiti had been when they first arrived in Kaocho during the Grave Eclipse—when the streets had still been littered by bodies in varied states of decay. It had sickened him, and he'd been so sad for them despite the fact that they were his enemies.

He'd kept on asking about the children, until Rief had pointed out that if any children had died there, then their bodies would be in the streets, too. Sveta had confirmed Rief's guess when she read the mind of one of the dead, who had seen that the children had all been taken to safety inside the palace walls. Still, Amiti had hardly seemed consoled by this fact. At the time, Karis hadn't known why, but she had finally found out later, when a late-night conversation had turned back to that day.

Amiti's eyes had been watery with unshed tears. _"I still want to weep for those children, Karis. They may be alive, but how many of them are fatherless now because of the Eclipse? Motherless? They may not want pity, least of all from me, but I cannot help it. I understand them better than they know, better than they want to admit."_

That was true enough. He'd grown up without ever knowing his mother, and the uncle who'd been a father to him as a child had died not long after the events of the Eclipse. Yes, he knew the pain those children felt.

Karis had a feeling, though, that even were that not so Amiti would still feel sorry for them. He was just that pure of heart—it was what made people see him as naïve, sometimes, that heart of his. But Karis knew Amiti better. He was very bright, not unlike his father. He just came across as dense sometimes because he tended to see the world in black and white.

Even that was endearing to her.

"M'lady?" Tika asked, and Karis snapped back to attention.

"Sorry, my thoughts were... drifting," Karis sighed. "You were saying?"

"Well, M'lady... Our men think they're planning to lay siege to Ayuthay again."

Karis frowned, glancing out the window over the green plains. "We have enough supplies to handle a siege, don't we?"

"Yes, but... Lord Amiti's still out there. If they lay siege before he returns..."

Karis turned to face Tika again, her face calm. "Amiti promised he'd be back before the birth of our child. He'll be home any day now. I know he will."

"Aye, he did promise that..." Tika smiled. "And Amiti's a man of his word."

Just then, Tobi burst into the room, panting. Karis and Tika were both startled.

"Brother, what's—"

"M'lady... Amiti..."

Karis perked up, almost glowing. "He's home?" The look on Tobi's face was answer enough. A feeling of dread fell over her. "What's happened?"

Tobi swallowed, standing up straight. "Now, M'lady, you mustn't take this badly... But his horse was found outside the walls this morning without him. It seemed rather spooked."

Tika's face was horrified. "Oh, no!" She turned to face Karis, resting a hand on her shoulder. "M'lady... I hope nothing's happened to him."

Karis did her best to keep her face composed as she pulled away from Tika gently. She couldn't stop a hand from going to her stomach, though. She felt like she was going to be sick. But she couldn't let that show, not now. She had to be strong, for Amiti's sake.

"I'm sure he's fine," she said, her voice sounding much calmer than she felt. "Thank you for informing me, Tobi. You and your sister may go, now. I'd like to be alone."

Tika and Tobi shared a glance before nodding. "Alright, M'lady. If you say so," Tika said. She and her brother bowed and left quickly.

Only then did Karis let go of the mask as she sat down by the window, arms wrapped tight around herself as she tried not to cry. If something had happened to him... It was up to her to protect this kingdom as it's queen. Up to her to be a strong ruler in his stead. This was what he'd trusted her to be able to do when they'd married, when he'd left her here to go to Belinsk. To be his strength.

Still, even a queen can only hold back tears for so long. Karis finally let them come and wept quietly, so no one passing by could hear.

_Please, Amiti... Please be fine. Don't break your promise to me._

Her hand clutched at her stomach as their baby kicked again, only this time the feeling made her sad.

_Don't leave your own child fatherless, too._

...

**Author: **This has been sitting in my computer for a while. I'm not too sure if it's a good idea to continue it before finishing the Mourning Moon, since it kind of gives away parts of the ending... Okay. Tell you what. Let's just say that this doesn't necessarily follow up to that. For now.

Alex as a grandfather would be priceless. I swear, I'd love to see the look on his face when he finds out. :D

Just a heads up: I don't plan to update this again until I finish the Mourning Moon.

Now, to those who reviewed the prologue:

**Lumino:** Thanks, and congrats on being the first to review!^^ Sorry I didn't update for a while, I've been trying to decide whether or not I should continue this before finishing the Mourning Moon. Anyway, this chapter has a bit more substance to it. The other was just a prologue. :)

**(anonymous review):** Thank you. :D**  
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**jollygreendragon: **Well... What can I say? I like suspense. And you just gave me a strange visual involving a green dragon punching out a donkey. o.o (You'll just have to wait and see about that... *insert evil laugh*! :D)

**heckenschutze: **Hey, look! I finally updated. I'm really on a roll this week. In fact, I've got part of the next chapter of the Mourning Moon done already. Cool, hope you enjoy this one, too. :)

Well, that's it for now.

Till next time! :)


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